The present invention relates to a composite sweetening agent which imparts an improved quality of sweetness to Aspartame (.alpha.-L-aspartyl-L-phenyl alanine lower-alkyl ester) which is a sweetening agent.
Aspartame has a high degree of sweetness which is about 100 to 200 times that of sucrose and is very excellent with respect to its quality of sweetness when compared with synthetic high-sweetness substances used now. Aspartame also has substantially no caloric value and is frequently used as a diet sweetening agent. Aspartame, however, has disadvantages with respect to its feeling of bitter and astringent taste and its unsatisfactory richness.
A conventional means for resolving the above-described disadvantages of Aspartame is a means in which Aspartame is mixed with another sweetening substance to form a composite sweetening agent, whereby good results are obtained to some extent. For example, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 149358/1985 is a method in which the disadvantages with respect to the quality of sweetness of Aspartame are removed by mixing fructooligosaccharide with Aspartame. The fructooligosaccharide used in this method, however, has a high degree of sweetness which is about 30 to 40% of that of sucrose. It might be considered that the fructooligosaccharide contains a high ratio of monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose and the like which have good sweetness and which are produced depending upon the production method used. It is therefore apparent that such monosaccharides function as necessary constituent components of a sweetening agent and it is recognized that fructooligosaccharide itself does not improve the quality of sweetness of Aspartame.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel means for resolving the above-described disadvantages of Aspartame without losing any of the characteristics thereof.